Finding Success With Your Knitting
Planning for a successful knitting project involves several important steps. Though having the right knitting needles and the perfect yarn are important, they’re not the only aspect of making a beautiful knitted piece. Proper preparation and visualizing the knitting project are two key components of making a gorgeous garment that you can wear or give to another with pride and accomplishment.
Knitting patterns are easy to find, especially on the Internet. That’s one reason that preparation is so important. Mistakes are somewhat common, since the hobbyists writing them are not professionals. These are accomplished knitters, but not always professional-level pattern writers. This is a compelling reason to read a pattern before you cast on. If the pattern calls for felting, be sure to have the right felting supplies on hand.
Take a close look at photographs of the finished garment. Is it a garment that will flatter your shape? The yarn you choose should result in the right drape. By thinking about these questions, it’s more likely you’ll end up with an attractive garment. Additionally, the photos should make clear how many parts comprise the garment. Not many projects get knitted in one piece. The instructions should have instructions for all parts of the garment.
Pattern details must contain a minimum of information. It’s chancy to knit a pattern without knowing the gauge, or stitches per inch. You could end up with a project that is far too small or impossibly large. There are so many different knitting stitches; you’re bound to come across one or more with which you’re unfamiliar. Practice these on a gauge swatch ahead of time to save yourself the trouble of ripping back (“frogging”) any mistakes. If the pattern includes charts, be sure that they’re all complete and clear to read. If any instructions are unclear, figure everything out before you start. Even if you need to re-write the instructions yourself to make everything clear, do it, you will not be sorry you did!
Having the right tools on hand is important before you embark on a new knitting project. Taking time to prepare adequately is critical to success. By knowing in advance of the possible challenge, you mitigate errors. Just these few simple steps will assure that your projects proceed with ease. The end result will thrill and delight!
Get on Board With the Hottest Trend in Crafting
Anyone with an eye on the latest crafting trends couldn’t help but notice the resurgence of knitting and crochet. Yarn arts are no longer something left to grandma, as young people everywhere are discovering the crafts. Getting started is easy, with only a few supplies needed. Of course, you need to get a set of straight knitting needles. Second, it’s wise to use a thick, light-colored yarn with a smooth feel for your first project.
With just a few dollars, you can get started learning to knit. Free knitting patterns are easy to come by. The ideal place to find free patterns is to look online. The major yarn manufacturers keep libraries of free patterns on their websites. Often, a free pattern is included on the paper wrapping around store-bought yarn. Numerous personal hobby blogs have patterns devised by knitting enthusiasts the world over. The large social networking sites offer yarn fan communities, that offer free patterns, tips and tricks.
After getting the hang of knitting, you may want to try you hand at felting. Felting supplies are easy to obtain, and you can learn the technique quickly and easily. An important thing to remember about felting is that it shrinks your project, so the knitted piece needs to be bigger than the final product. Felting is ideal for projects that benefit from rigid texturing. For example, felting is popular for knitted toys as well as knitted handbags.
Felting is achieved through the use of heat and agitation. This is why most home felting is done in the washing machine. Setting the machine to the hot water setting and the most vigorous agitation should achieve the results you desire.
The perfect first project, whether felted or not, is the traditional scarf. Scarves are a great starter project for several reasons. First of all, gauge, or “stitches per inch” just isn’t that important in scarves, because it is not a fitted garment. Since scarves are not complex garments enveloping the body, whether it comes out thinner or wider than the pattern calls for is unimportant. It still keeps the neck warm! Also, scarves knit up quickly, giving you a sense of accomplishment in a short period of time.
Knitting and other yarn arts are a great activity that can relieve stress. You can do it anywhere, and easily carry it with you on any kind of outing. If you’re seeking out a new hobby, try out knitting!
Teaching Children to Knit
The Benefits of Teaching Children to Knit (and Some Tricks to Help)
There are many reasons to teach children to knit, and there are a few guidelines that, if followed, will ensure pleasure and rewards for both the children and the teacher.
Some people, and therefore some children, are more tactile than they are mental. In other words, they learn easier, are better able to concentrate, stay calmer, and/or are better able to pay attention, if their hands are kept busy.
Some students will be quite disruptive in a classroom if their hands are not kept busy. Some children will bother their siblings and get into trouble for the same reasons. Knitting can be an answer.
Get off to a good start with teaching a child to knit by choosing a project that holds a lot of interest for the child. With the popularity of cell phones, iPods, and Palm Pilots, for example, small cases for each can be knit up quickly.
If the child plays an instrument, he can knit a case for his flute or recorder, for example. If the child has a favorite doll, a poncho or blanket can be knit.
The next choice to be made is yarn. Let the child choose, but make sure the options are all washable, non-shrinking yarns. You will want to be able to toss the finished project into the washing machine whenever it becomes soiled.
Also, a yarn with a tight twist to it will be easier for the beginner to knit without splitting stitches.
Once the project and yarns are chosen, then the needles will need to be selected. Needle size always depends on the texture of the fabric you want to knit. For beginning knitters, larger needles, say size 8 and up, are the easiest to use. Also, the needles should be the shortest ones available.
If the child isn’t confused by a circular needle, a short one of size 8 or above is the best solution. When the knitting session is over for the day, the ends of the needle can be twisted into a half-knot and no stitches will slip off while the project sits waiting to be picked up and knitting resumed.
The two main problems a child learning to knit has are knitting too tightly, and splitting stitches. Children are always perplexed when they finish a row and have more stitches on the needle than they started with. By carefully watching and pointing out the problem, you can help them avoid this mistake.
The same is true of knitting tightly. Remind them that knitting is supposed to be relaxing, and not to pull the yarn too tightly. If you observe them as they knit, you can show them that moment right before they remove the stitch from the left-hand needle, when they can tug on their stitch and make it a bit looser.
Practice and paying attention to how it feels to knit, thereby ‘teaching’ your hands how it feels when it’s done right, are really the best ways to get past these problems and become an ace knitter.
The joy on their faces when they’ve created something with their own hands is the reward for all those clumsy moments and makes it all worthwhile in teaching kids to knit.